Thursday, 29 May 2014

This is no suprise: François Hollande ready for business with Putin despite of his annexation of Crimea

It is really sad that the French will have to wait for another three years until they have a new president:

PARIS — President François Hollande of France will use D-Day commemorations next week as an opportunity to assume a more direct diplomatic role in the Ukraine crisis, becoming the first European leader to meet face to face with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia since the Western effort to isolate him for his annexation of Crimea.

Though Mr. Hollande and lower-ranking French officials have been in regular contact with Mr. Putin and his inner circle for months, the French have played a more quiet role on Ukraine than the Germans and Americans. Recently, Mr. Hollande joined Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on a phone call with Mr. Putin.

His scheduled meeting with the Russian president now constitutes the French president’s most prominent diplomatic foray into the Ukrainian crisis since it began. It follows France’s announcement that it would honor a deal worth 1.2 billion euros, or $1.6 billion, to deliver two Mistral-class warships to Russia even after its land grab in Ukraine, a decision that displeased France’s Western allies.